Obama’s Long Game, Ctd

Ezra Klein thinks I've "written a defense of Obama's record that is better than anything the campaign has produced itself." His caveat:

America's continuing recovery — and, thus, Obama's reelection — relies on Europe avoiding a total meltdown. If Europe manages its problems and the economy grows steadily in 2012, Sullivan's take on Obama's record is going to find a lot of support. If Europe falls apart and the American recovery slows to a crawl, the retrospective evaluations of Obama's presidency will not be so kind. Somewhat unfairly to Obama, this isn't in his control, and there's no reason that the success of his policies should be judged based on the unrelated actions of the European Central Bank. But no one said elections are fair.

I agree Europe is the wild card. All I can say is that the narrative I laid for Obama in October 2007 was regarded as delusional then. And it's the substance that I want to focus on, not the luck. Obama's responsible for what he has made of the awful times he has been president in. And whatever happens, judging that correctly is important.